Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Conservative Communism: Chapter 1

Conservative Communism: The Secret History of the American Right, From Gerrard Winstanley to Grover Norquist

Chapter 1. Oliver's Army Are On Their Way: The Origins of Conservative Communism

It was inevitable that the intellectual origins of conservative communism should be found in Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army, since the English Civil War represented the first major conflict between conservative communism and liberal fascism. Just as the Roundheads represent the origins of conservative communism, so the Cavaliers represent the origins of liberal fascism. As Michael Stipe has pointed out,

The authoritarian libertines who supported King Charles I intended to create the world's first liberal fascist regime -- a regime combining the Divine Right of Kings and liberalism's metrosexual fashion sense, as represented by their 17th-century manifestations: ostrich plumes and elaborate curled wigs.

Opposing them were the world's first conservative communists, the Roundheads: sober, conservatively dressed members of the New Model Army quoting the Bible in support of communitarian ideals.

1 Stipe, Michael, "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", as quoted in Document, I.R.S. Records, 1987.

[Adam, you get the idea. I'll fill in some stuff about the Putney Debates and the Levellers and Diggers later. Maybe I can get some of my blog readers to send me some stuff.]